Joy as Teddy the cat comes home

A POOLE family who feared their cats had been trapped and dumped in Ringwood are overjoyed after one of them turned up after the Forest Journal highlighted their plight.

Jenny and Mark Lane's two cats, a British Blue called Teddy and a sealpoint Siamese called Missy, went missing on January 15.

They put posters up everywhere and someone called to say they believed the cats had been dumped in Ringwood or Poulner.

Two days after the Journal featured their story, on Saturday evening, the Lanes were at home in Crusader Road in Bearwood and heard a cat growling outside.

Mrs Lane sent one of her sons to look and there in the street, hiding under a car, was Teddy.

She said: “I can't find the words to describe how I felt, and I'm never one to be lost for words.

“When Tristan came running back in, saying 'It's Teddy! It's Teddy! I thought he was having me on.

“We went out and coaxed him in with a piece of ham and we've been stroking him and stroking him ever since.”

Mrs Lane took Teddy to be microchipped on Monday, where he was checked over and had a tick removed.

Celia Marker from Cats Protection in Ferndown, who has been helping the Lanes with their search, is urging all cat owners to have their pets chipped after a number of success stories where animals have been returned to their owners.

She said: “The Cats Protection reunites around 3,000 lost or missing cats with their owners across the UK each year.

“Our survey found that almost one in two cats never return so we recommend microchipping as the cheapest and simplest means of identifying a cat.

“However, it is very important pet owners keep their details up to date so owners should check their certificate which will tell them how to do this.”

Anyone who knows what may have happened to Missy should contact the Lanes on 07933 733 445 , or email [email protected] or contact police on 101, quoting crime number C/12/C/7700. PC Gavin Haynes is investigating, as is Jo Storey of the RSPCA.